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In a separate statement on Sunday, a Philippine military spokesman said the Philippines “will exhaust all means at its disposal before seeking foreign intervention” to carry out the resupply mission.
Manila and Washington are bound by a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which can be invoked if Philippine troops, government vessels or aircraft come under armed attack in the South China Sea. U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, have affirmed their “strong” commitment to aid the Philippines.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, overlapping with maritime claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. In 2016, an arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled that China’s claims had no legal basis, a ruling Beijing rejected.
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